Emily the Vampire Slayer
by SeaSpectre160
Summary: WHUMPTOBER 2019 PROMPTS #10, 12, 13, 24, & 31: UNCONSCIOUS, "DON'T MOVE", ADRENALINE, SECRET INJURY, & EMBRACE. Emily Fornell had no idea what hit her. Well, that was a lie. She knew EXACTLY what she saw before she'd taken a hit to the head. She just had no clue what it really WAS, because what it LOOKED like was something that just didn't EXIST in real life.
1. Unconscious

**I know I've been on radio silence for over a month. On the same day as my most recent posting, I got an offer for a full-time job in my field. As I've only been working part-time up until now, I naturally took the job, and so I've been too busy to update as regularly as I would like to. The next chapter of 'Two For The Price Of One' is still in the works, and I'll be updating that alongside the Whumptober 2019 prompts, which I _will_ be finishing, even if October is long over. Prompts #12 and #13 will be Chapters 2 and 3 of this, or maybe 3 and 4, as I still haven't decided what I'm going to do for #11.**

**Just a quick summary for people who are only familiar with one fandom and not the other:**

**'NCIS' is a police procedural drama focusing on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which focuses on crimes involving the US Navy or Marines or their families. FBI Agent Tobias Fornell is a recurring character who is friends with the main cast, and often works with them. Emily Fornell is his teenage daughter, who also pops up often.**

**On 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', "one girl in all the world" is chosen by the magical Powers That Be to fight vampires and demons with magically enhanced strength and skills. At the beginning of the series, there has only been one Slayer at a time for thousands of years, but in the finale, a spell was cast that activated the powers of every potential Slayer in the world.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'NCIS', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', or any of the characters therein. Isra and Morgan, however, are my OC's.**

**WORD COUNT: 839**

* * *

Emily Fornell had no idea what hit her.

Well, that was a lie. She knew exactly what she _saw_ before she'd taken a hit to the head. She just had no clue what it really _was_, because what it _looked_ like was something that just didn't _exist_ in real life.

However, as she groaned and tried to open her heavy eyelids, she had more important things to worry about. Like where the hell was she, now?

"Hey, there," a voice said, "You wanna come back to the land of the living, now?"

She forced her heavy eyes open, blinked a few times in the light, and finally the two faces hovering above hers came into focus.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" a girl her age with blonde hair, freckles, and braces cried, "We were starting to think you might've been hit harder than we originally thought."

"_She_ was starting to worry," the slightly older woman – mid twenties, maybe – with the hijab and the olive skin corrected.

Emily blinked again, then slowly sat up, wincing as her head pounded and taking stock of her surroundings. She was inside a van, one with no windows and with one interior wall lined with a strange array of weaponry: swords, axes, and even a crossbow! The two girls in there with her were both dressed in dark clothing, but nothing that looked like they were planning on breaking in somewhere in the dead of night.

"Who are you?" she asked, "And what do you want? My dad's an FBI agent, so if this is some kind of kidnapping, you picked the wrong-"

The blonde laughed nervously. "No, no, it's nothing like that! We _saved_ you, actually!"

"How much do you remember?" the other one asked seriously.

Emily swallowed, thinking back. "It… You wouldn't believe me. _I_ don't believe me."

For some reason, they both smirked a little. "Try us."

"I was on my way home from seeing a movie with my friends, and suddenly someone grabbed me from behind and dragged me into this alley I'd just passed."

"He was waiting for you to pass through it," the woman in the hijab said, "Although I'm not sure why he thought you would."

"It _is_ a shortcut between the theater and my house," Emily admitted, "But my dad would _kill_ me if I did something as _stupid_ as walk through a dark alley alone at night. Plus, it just felt…" She didn't know how to describe it."

"Like there was something wrong about it?" the blonde suggested, "Something… unnatural?" She had the air of someone who wasn't guessing, who _knew_ she'd gotten it right.

And she had. Emily blinked at her. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess. So, he grabbed me, and he threw me into the wall, but he must've been wearing some kind of mask, because his face looked all… well, wrong. All bumpy, and stuff, around the forehead and brow."

Neither of the other two looked surprised in the slightest. "'A man in a mask'," the blonde repeated, "That's the most common guess people have when they see them for the first time."

"Or 'gang on PCP'," her friend added.

"When they see _who_ for the first time?!" Emily demanded, "And you _still_ haven't told me who you are, or where I am!"

The two of them exchanged glances, then the blonde spoke up. "Alright. First of all, I'm Morgan, and this is Isra. You're in our company van a few blocks away from where you were attacked – if you'd like a lift back home, we'd be glad to help you out."

"But what happened? How did I get here?"

Isra shrugged. "We were just driving by when we saw what happened. We saw you get grabbed, saw you try to fight him off, and then finished him off when he knocked you out."

"Wait…" A cold feeling came over Emily. "What do you mean by 'finished him off'? You didn't kill him, did you?"

At that question, Morgan and Isra looked really nervous. "Not… technically," Morgan answered evasively.

"We definitely didn't commit murder," Isra stated more confidently, "What else do you remember?"

Not sure how that was relevant, Emily still continued. "Well, he grabbed me, and I hit him as hard as I could, and he stumbled back, all the way to the other side of the alley – I didn't think I could hit him _that_ hard, but I guess I did. Then he grabbed a pipe and started swinging it at me, and I dodged a few times before… before he hit me on the head. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in here."

Morgan and Isra shared an oddly satisfied look. "I told you she was one of us," Morgan said confidently.

"I didn't argue with you," Isra shot back.

Emily blinked at them. "One of you? What the hell are you talking about?"

The two turned back to face her. "It's a long story," Isra told her, "And it starts like this: The world is older than you know…"

* * *

**I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up; I think I will alternate between posting Whumptober entries and updating 'Two For The Price Of One', but you know what they say about the best laid plans…**


	2. Don't Move

**I suppose that I should tell you in advance that writing fight scenes is not my forte, so I apologise if it's at all awkward.**

**Caridad was a minor character in BtVS Season 7, as one of the Potentials who came to Sunnydale. She was confirmed to have survived, even if she never appeared in 'Chosen' or any of the comics.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'NCIS', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', or any of the characters therein.**

**WORD COUNT: 854**

* * *

"Don't move."

Emily froze at her trainer's urgent tone. She'd been training with this Slayer long enough to know that when Caridad said stop, you had to fucking _stop_.

She could feel it, too. There was this uncomfortable prickling sensation creeping up the back of her neck, like someone had slipped an ice cube down her shirt. There was also the urge to immediately spring into action and attack whatever it was that was hiding wherever she couldn't see it, but that would be monumentally _stupid_, so she resisted that urge.

"Hold very still." Caridad moved slowly, holstering the stake in her right hand while taking careful, silent steps around Emily. Meanwhile, she drew a pale-handled, elaborately patterned iron knife with her left hand. Emily mentally ran through the list of demons that had a weakness to iron, but drew a blank. She was good at observing useful details to relay to her dad when she got kidnapped, and at thinking on her feet. Memorising demon species and their strengths and weaknesses? Not so much.

Caridad's eyes were definitely fixed on something over Emily's left shoulder, and now that Emily was paying more attention, she could _definitely_ hear something growling behind her. Drawing on the Slayer Senses lessons she'd been getting, she was able to pinpoint the source to about three yards behind her, and… ten feet above her? It would have to be up on the second-storey fire escape of the alley she and Caridad were passing through on patrol.

Suddenly, Caridad moved so fast she would be a blur to non-Slayer eyes (and damn near close to it to a Slayer), leaping upward and out of sight. Emily whipped around to see her trainer grab onto the fire escape railing with one hand while using the other hand to shove her knife into the massive shape also hanging from the same fire escape.

The demon came crashing down with a window-rattling roar of rage and pain. _That_ was going to wake the neighbours. However, the stab and the fall clearly were not enough to kill it, as the damn thing got up pretty much right away and charged at Emily.

Emily brought up the stake that was already in her hand, intending to use the demon's momentum to help her drive the weapon into its heart.

Except it didn't work out that way. Emily could barely process the stake in her hand shattering into tiny splinters against the demon's tough, slate-grey hide before she was lifted off her feet and slammed into the wall behind her.

She saw stars when her head smacked into the brick wall, and all the air rushed out of her lungs with a _whoosh_. The demon had picked her up by her upper arms and never even broke its stride until the wall stopped them both.

The demon's breath smelled horrible, ten times worse than that time she picked up groceries for a week-long midsummer camping trip, a package of frozen chicken had fallen out in her car, and she hadn't discovered it until she and her dad had gotten back from their trip. Its clawed grip was so strong, Emily swore she could _feel_ her arm bones crunching under the force.

Caridad's knife was still sticking out of the demon's chest, but not all the way to the hilt. Emily strained to grab it and get a good grip, her right hand bleeding from the wooden shards embedded in it.

"Emily!" Caridad had dropped down from the fire escape and drawn the short sword holstered across her back, and was now trying to hack away at the demon's back, but wasn't making a dent. The blade that had previously sliced one demon right in half wasn't having any effect on this one. Still, Caridad kept trying, screaming what was probably a litany of Spanish curses.

Emily pulled on the knife as hard as she could, yanking it out of the demon's chest. She remembered something Isra had taught her: Go for the eyes (if it has any). Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, the eyes were the perfect weak spot.

Even though her arms were shaking from the pain, she managed to drive it right into the demon's bright yellow left eye.

Emily would later swear that she went temporarily deaf from the shrill screech that was the demon's death wail, so high-pitched compared to its earlier roar. Those crushing hands finally released her, and Emily dropped to the ground, too dazed and pained to stay standing. The demon crumpled to the dirt in front of her, its ichor-oozing head landing in her lap.

She couldn't breathe, she was in so much pain. Later, she would reflect that that didn't make sense, but she was in no state of mind to appreciate that.

"Get up!" Caridad's voice sounded like it was coming from underwater. "Em, come on! We gotta get out of here!"

The senior Slayer hauled the junior one to hear feet, and the two of them ran (for a given value of the word 'run') down the alley as police sirens filled the air.

* * *

**I was planning for this to be a three-parter, but I've extended it to at least 4 parts. Chapter 3 will be the next prompt, #13, but Chapter 4 will be Prompt #24. However, I don't plan on having any other NCIS characters show up until Chapter 4. I will _try_ to make some mentions of the others in the next chapter, but no one else will actually be showing up yet.**


	3. Adrenaline

**Good news! This fic will now be 5 chapters long! I've already announced that Prompt #24 will be Chapter 4, and now I've added Prompt #31 as Chapter 5.**

**Timeline-wise, this takes place in late 2016, so Fornell is still loafing around at Gibbs's house after being shot at the end of Season 13. Also, I am unfamiliar with the BtVS comics, so I will only be taking the series into account, but I may draw inspiration from things on the Buffyverse Wiki that are sourced from the comics.**

**DEDICATION: My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims of the shootings in Portapique, Nova Scotia this past weekend. I personally never knew any of them, but one victim's husband taught at my old high school, and coached my brother on the school's hockey team.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'NCIS', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', or any of the characters therein. However, Isra, Jessica, Morgan, and Cody are my OC's.**

**WORD COUNT: 844**

* * *

One could hear them long before one could see them. The first sign was the telltale slap of their shoes pounding the pavement as they half-ran, half-staggered up the sidewalk. The second was the harsh breathing, one sounding much worse than the other as she tried to get air into her lungs while simultaneously crying.

When they finally came into view, once could see that the two women looked even worse than they sounded, especially the redhead. Her hands were bleeding, her face was chalk-white, and if one looked at her closely from behind, one could see more blood running down the back of her neck, exposed by the fact that her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail.

The two of them veered into an alleyway, the woman practically dragging the red-haired teenager along. After setting her down on an overturned milk crate, the woman started trying to calm her companion down. "Hey. Breathe, okay? Just take deep breaths with me." She grabbed one of the girl's hands and, ignoring the blood all over it, pressed it up against her chest. Then she started taking big, slow breaths.

It took several minutes, but the girl's breathing finally evened out. "Sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay. I freaked out _very_ badly after my first near-miss. Now, let's take a look at those hands." She examined the girl's hands, wincing. "Okay, these'll need to be treated. We have a healing salve back at Headquarters, but those splinters will need to be taken out, first. Otherwise, the skin will heal over them. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"M-my head."

The woman stood up and looked at the back of the girl's head, wincing again. "Alright, we're going straight back to Headquarters. I'll text Isra and Jessica to cover the rest of our patrol. Can you walk?"

"I can try." The girl tried to stand up, but her shaky legs couldn't seem to hold her weight.

* * *

Emily's whole body was shaking. Her head was pounding in time with her heart, and she felt like she was going to be sit. She couldn't help but feel like she had to get up, to run, to _move_, but at the same time, she also felt too exhausted to do any of those things.

Caridad was being very patient with her. When it became clear that Emily wasn't going to be walking anywhere anytime soon, she gave her a few more minutes to collect herself while she called Jessica and Isra – the two Slayers listed as being on patrol back-up tonight, as well as arranging for a car to come and get them, because she didn't think it was a good idea for Emily to be walking back to Headquarters with her injuries. Even if she was able to get herself there, her wounds could still draw undue attention onto her and Caridad.

Speaking of wounds, Emily didn't know how she was going to explain this. She'd been able to hide some of her Slaying-related injuries from her Dad, but mostly because he was still staying at Uncle Gibbs's house, recovering from his own injury since May. But those had been limited to a few scrapes and bruises, and her new Slayer healing had taken care of them quickly. This was worse, and she didn't know how long she would be able to hide it.

The car pulled up about fifteen minutes after Caridad made the call, and Cody Robinson – Morgan's older brother – got out. He'd found out about his little sister's new Calling, and after a _lot_ of arguing, he'd agreed to not rat her out to their barely-present parents, but only if the Council allowed him to help out in any way he could. Since he owned a number of small shops and other properties scattered around the DC area, Cody's main contribution was providing fully-stocked 'safe zones' for Slayers in case of an emergency. They were fully warded by one of the Council's mages, and stocked with weapons and medical supplies, among other things.

Speaking of medical supplies, Cody was cracking open his First Aid kit in front of her before she realised it. Emily was ashamed to admit that she jumped an inch in surprise, her nerves still frayed from before.

She'd almost died. The demon had had her, and she'd just barely managed to save herself. She wondered if this was how her Dad felt every time _he_ had a close call. Or Uncle Gibbs- well, she wasn't sure if _anything_ could rattle Uncle Gibbs. Maybe Tony? From what Dad had told her, he'd had more near-misses than everyone on Dad's floor at the office _combined_.

Cody gave her a cold, damp rag for the head injury, and between him and Caridad, they were able to get Emily into the backseat of the car. Emily didn't say much; she was too exhausted to do so. And yet, she didn't dare let herself pass out. Every time she shut her eyes, all she could see was the snarling face of the demon that nearly killed her.

* * *

**Okay, so I've been going through my fanfic plans, and I think the earliest that I can put up the next chapter would be late June, but this is only the earliest possible time. I'm going to try and stick to a consistent posting pattern of only updating this on Tuesdays, but I _will_ be doing the Whumptober posts in order, and Chapter 4 is still only #24. Any other Whumptober posts will also be restricted to a specific day of the week if they're from a TV show. Posts based on movies will be put up as soon as they're finished and all previous posts are up (unless it's a later chapter, in which case it will be the same day of the week as Chapter 1). Also, I am still alternating between Whumptober posts and updating 'Two For The Price Of One', and once that fic is finished, its slot will be filled by updates to 'Reawakening'. Between those two fics and Whumptober, I won't be putting up anything else until July, at least!**

**The next Whumptober entry will be a new story called 'Giving In', and it is a 'Young Justice: Invasion' oneshot based on the prompt 'Tear-Stained'. It should be coming out next Saturday, May 2nd, so if you're interested, keep an eye out!**

**Until next time,**

**Spectre (#NovaScotiaStrong)**


	4. Secret Injury

**It wasn't until I started working on this that I realised that in early Season 14, which is when this takes place, Emily is away at boarding school, which is why Fornell is staying at Gibbs's house instead of at home. For the sake of this fic, that is not the case, although he is still The Thing That Would Not Leave as in NCIS canon.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'NCIS', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', or any of the characters therein. Isra and Morgan are my OCs.**

**WORD COUNT: 893**

* * *

Hiding a head wound and several deep cuts on her hands from her FBI Agent dad was _not_ going to be easy. The first couple of weeks were okay. Emily frequently popped by Uncle Gibbs's place to see Dad, who was still recovering from his gunshot wounds there, and fortunately, only one cut was on her finger, so she usually wore some fingerless gloves and claimed that the one visible cut was from a veggie-slicing accident. Dad had done the same once or twice, so he was actually more horrified at the thought of her cooking anything. His reaction both relieved and mildly offended her.

The head wound was trickier. Emily made excuses to not stop until it healed nearly a week later. Mostly, she communicated with Dad by phone and text. Uncle Gibbs nearly caught her, having dropped by _her_ home to check up on _her_. A couple days had gone by since then, so she managed to pass it off as a regular headache. Well, she _hoped_ she managed it. Uncle Gibbs was like a human polygraph, so there was always a chance that he noticed something was off with her claim.

She was inordinately happy to have her Dad back at home for Christmas, and to have Uncle Gibbs with them (considering she'd had to infest his house with termites just to get Dad back into his own home, Emily felt she owed Uncle Gibbs _much_ more than a Christmas dinner). However, her hands still had some faint, pink lines on them, not having completely healed over yet. And now that Dad would be home all day, she would have to resort to other measures.

Luckily, Isra had just the thing for such an occasion. She gave Emily the name of her recommended brand of concealer, which she swore would cover everything up. It was a bit pricey, and Emily couldn't borrow some of Isra's, due to their markedly different skin tones, and she wasn't sure she could get away with spending so much on makeup.

Taking refuge in audacity, Emily went and bought the concealer – and a more expensive pair of earrings and an even _more_ expensive jacket. Dad had blown up once he got the credit card bill, but Emily had inherited more than just her red hair from her mother. In the end, she 'agreed' to return the two more expensive items, but convinced him to 'let' her keep the least expensive of the three. Otherwise known as the concealer that she'd really wanted.

Thus, she was pretty sure that her secret was safe. She would carefully apply the makeup after every time she washed her hands, and insisted on spending most of their Father-Daughter Time outside in the wintry cold, giving her an excuse to wear gloves as often as possible in her Dad's presence.

It almost worked. Then, just days into January, her worlds collided.

* * *

"NCIS!"

"FBI! FREEZE!"

The shouts rang through the cold alley, aimed at the three people currently engaged in a violent dance of close combat. The tiny blonde girl looked reflexively over her shoulder at them, and her moment of distraction coast her as she got backhanded _hard_ into the side of a dumpster by the tall, skinny, bald man.

The redhead, however, was still on her feet and in the fight, so she _couldn't_ freeze. Fang-Face was still coming at her, because after all, regular bullets weren't much of a problem for vampires, so what did _he_ have to worry about?

She, on the other hand, had a _lot_ to worry about. Aside from Morgan going down and the vampire still doing his damndest to kill her, she was _certain_ that the people interrupting their fight were people who knew her. After all, whenever NCIS and the FBI worked a case together, nine times out of ten it was Uncle Gibbs's team and Dad, who had finally returned to work.

Fang-Face lunged at her, bringing all her attention back onto him where it belonged. However, his lunge was sloppy; she ducked under his swinging arms and brought her stake up in a movement that would have been an uppercut if she'd been punching him. She nailed him right in the heart, causing him to disintegrate into dust.

Unfortunately, he'd been looming over her, so an impromptu dust shower was inevitable. She gagged and sputtered as some of it got into her mouth, and she shook her head, sending more cascading down her shoulders like the worst case of dandruff _ever_.

"Morgan?" she gasped, hoping her fellow Slayer wasn't too badly hurt. However, she soon realised she had a far more immediate problem to deal with.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON!"

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

This time, Emily _did_ freeze. She knew she should count herself lucky that she hadn't already been shot for apparently stabbing a guy in front of a bunch of federal agents. The stake clattered to the ground as she slowly raised her hands and turned her head to see just who she was dealing with.

It wasn't good. She recognised one woman as FBI Agent Courtney Krieger, who used to work under her Dad, and two of the NCIS agents also had familiar faces: Uncle Gibbs and Ellie Bishop, who both blinked in surprise when they got a good look at _her_ face.

"Emily?" Uncle Gibbs exclaimed.

_Crap._

* * *

**In case any NCIS fans have forgotten, FBI Agent Courtney Krieger was the probie agent in 5x04 'Identity Crisis'. And I can't remember if Emily has met Torres or Quinn at this point in the series, so for the sake of the story, let's say she hasn't.**

**The next chapter will have to wait for another month; it'll be for Prompt #31: Embrace, and should be out on August 18th at the earliest. It will pick up pretty much right where this one leaves off, and explain why those agents were even there in the first place. However, my other BtVS fic-in-progress, 'Damsel in Distress', will have its final chapter sooner, hopefully on July 29th.**

**Next up will be a 'Supergirl' fic, called 'Like Father, Like Son', focusing on Prompt #25: Humiliation. It should be out on Monday, July 20th.**

**In case any NCIS fans have forgotten, FBI Agent Courtney Krieger was the probie agent in 5x04 'Identity Crisis'. And I can't remember if Emily has met Torres or Quinn at this point in the series, so for the sake of the story, let's say she hasn't.**

**The next chapter will have to wait for another month; it'll be for Prompt #31: Embrace, and should be out on August 18th at the earliest. It will pick up pretty much right where this one leaves off, and explain why those agents were even there in the first place. However, my other BtVS fic-in-progress, 'Damsel in Distress', will have its final chapter sooner, hopefully on July 29th.**

**Next up will be a 'Supergirl' fic, called 'Like Father, Like Son', focusing on Prompt #25: Humiliation. It should be out on Monday, July 20th. ****Expect angst, feels, and a couple of Broadway references.**

**'Til next time,**

**Spectre**


	5. Embrace

**Yay! I've finally finished Whumptober 2019! With only two days left until Whumptober 2020 starts, I think it's safe to say that I won't be bothering with it this year. I just don't have enough time on my hands for it.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'NCIS', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', or any of the characters therein.**

**WORD COUNT: 899**

* * *

The silence in the NCIS conference room was just painful. Emily had spent an hour in the interrogation room with Agent Bishop gently trying to get her to explain what she was doing in that alley and what happened to the 'man' she stabbed before the Council lawyer came in and put a stop to it. Emily felt bad for the agents; that particular lawyer was rather unfriendly, and she actually _liked_ the people he was currently lambasting.

Dad had arrived shortly after, and had promptly put an end to the interview, but Emily hadn't been allowed to leave; she'd 'stabbed' someone right in front of federal agents from two different agencies, including his own. _Then_ Director Vance had come in, and they'd all been swept into his office for a secured briefing about Slayers, as the Council's agreement with the US government allowed agents to be informed on a need-to-know basis. And ensuring that two Slayers didn't get jailed for an alleged murder witnessed by federal agents meant that the agents in question needed to know.

Now, the lawyer and a couple of Watchers were ensconced in the Director's office, trying to hash out a viable cover story for how the 'stolen' body of a Naval Officer who stumbled onto a human trafficking ring wasn't actually stolen and why ten witnesses had seen him a full forty-eight hours after he died, being chased down the street by a pair of teenaged girls. Everyone else was scattered around the NCIS building, trying to process this. Emily hadn't been able to fight a smile at the sight of Abby Sciuto cornering another Watcher, excitedly interrogating him about how dusting a vampire worked, physics-wise.

Emily, however, had been whisked off to the conference room by her Dad, and the smile had quickly vanished.

"I don't even know where to start!" Dad cried after a good five minutes of pacing and muttering, "Actually, I do! How in the hell did you get mixed up in this crap?!"

Emily swallowed. "I was attacked by a vampire on my way home from school in May."

"In _MAY_?!" Dad yelled, making her jump. "This has been going on since _May_?!" His voice ratcheted up several octaves with that last word.

Emily winced, knowing this conversation wasn't going to get any easier "Morgan and another girl, Isra, were patrolling that night, and they came to help me after he knocked me out. But I managed to hold him off in a way that made them think I was a Slayer, too, and we tested that theory and… they were right."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "How? What kind of tests?"

"Nothing dangerous!" Emily assured him, "There's a spell that can identify new Slayers, and they had me lift a few heavy things that I _definitely_ shouldn't be able to lift, otherwise. And I was told that I could get the bare-bones training and then go back to a normal life, or I could train even more and help out with patrols around the city."

"And why would you need _any_ training in the first place?! For God's sake, Em, you're not even eighteen!"

"Because demons and vampires are drawn to Slayers, Dad. Even if I stayed out of it all, they would seek me out. It could be why I was attacked in the first place, unless it was completely random. I needed to know how to defend myself if it happened again!"

"But it didn't mean you had to go wandering the streets looking for – and I can't _believe_ I'm saying this – looking for _vampires_ to kill! You said it yourself; you could just go back to your own life! Why would you risk yourself like this?!"

Emily stood up. "Why do you still go out in the field instead of sticking with a desk position? I'm a Fornell, Dad; I can't just sit around and do nothing when there's something bad happening and I can help! And it's not just saving a bunch of strangers, either! Did you know that Isra's sister was killed in a demon attack before she was even Called? That Morgan's best friend was turned to get to her, even though Morgan initially said 'no' to being a Slayer? And Caridad, she's been a Slayer for more than _thirteen years_, do you have any idea how many people she's lost?! And it doesn't matter whether they embraced being a Slayer or not, they've all lost people to this darkness, and I don't want to lose anyone else!"

She didn't know when she started crying, but now the tears were running hot and fast down her face.

"I've already lost Mom. And I almost lost you last year. And I can't go through that again, Dad, I can't! So, if every demon I kill is one less demon that could threaten you, then I'll kill as many as I can if it keeps my family that much safer! I'm so, _so_ sorry I didn't tell you, but you got shot only a few weeks after this whole thing started, and I couldn't…"

She couldn't speak anymore after that, the words getting choked up in her throat. Dad moved forward suddenly and put his arms around her, holding her tight. "It's okay, Em," he whispered, "We'll figure this out together."

Emily choked down a sob, held tight to her father, and didn't let go.

* * *

**Now that I'm finally done with Whumptober and all my unfinished works, I'm going to try and update the 'United AU' series, which I haven't touched since February 2016. That's a 'Super Sentai' series, so I don't know if anyone reading this fic cares about it, but my point is that it'll be a while before I publish anything new that's BtVS-related. I'm hoping it'll be 'Back to SunnyHell High', but there are 7 or 8 other fics ahead of it in the queue, all for various different fandoms. So, if you're fans of 'Samurai Sentai Shinkenger', 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians', 'Transformers', 'Kamen Rider Kiva', 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow', 'Kamen Rider Gaim', the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe', and 'Harry Potter', you'll have something new to read sooner.**

**'Til next time,**

**Spectre**


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